Dutch Oven Recipes

Dutch Oven Lasagna

Dutch Oven Lasagna is one of the first recipes that I taught to my Scouts way back in 2004. It must have been a hit since they repeated the recipe for the next six months of outings and it continues to be a popular menu item.

Directions:

Brown meat in bottom of your 12" Dutch Oven. Remove meat from the oven, drain it and mix the meat with the sauce & spices. Mix cheeses into a cheese mixture. Rinse out the sauce jar with a couple cups of water, pour enough into the dutch oven to cover the bottom then place a layer of noodles onto the sauce. Layer the sauce & meat mixture, dry noodles and cheeses in alternating layers reserving about 1 cup of cheese for the top layer. Cover the oven and bake at 350° for 45 to 60 minutes or until noodles are tender. Use 24 charcoal briquettes for the outdoor cooking of this recipe with charcoal as your fuel. Place 15 lit briquettes on top and 9 underneath your Dutch oven. You may need more coals in windy or cold weather.

Serve lasagna with salad and garlic bread (heated in Dutch Ovens) for a well rounded meal!

Recipe Notes:

Noodles will absorb moisture from the sauce during the cooking process, there is no need to add water. Ensure that the bottom heat is not too hot in order to avoid burning the pasta. Rotate the oven periodically in order to avoid hot spots. As an option, the ground beef can be mixed 50/50 with Italian sausage and rocatta cheese can be added although youth typically don't care for the sausage and rocatta.

This recipe has been successfully prepared using rice flour-based lasagna noodles which provides a good menu choice for those on gluten-free diets.